PASSED FOR 401 YARDS AND THREE TOUCHDOWNS.
WKU LOOKS FOR 2-0 START IN SATURDAY’s GAME AGAINST NORTH ALABAMA
Western Kentucky University’s football team started the 2025 season with a bang on Saturday night. And senior transfer quarterback Maverick McIvor certainly enjoyed slinging it all over the place.
“It’s another day on ‘The Hill,’ baby,” McIvor said after the Hilltoppers outdistanced visiting Sam Houston State, 41-24, on a warm August night before a paid crowd of 15,312 at Houchens-Smith Stadium. “That’s what we do around here.”
McIvor, a senior transfer making his WKU debut, completed 33 of 51 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns, adding a 4-yard TD run to close the scoring. The former Abilene Christian star came to WKU with former ACU offensive coordinator Rick Bowie in January.
McIvor is following in the footsteps of productive Hilltopper quarterbacks such as Bailey Zappe, Austin Reed and the recently departed Caden Veltkamp, who is now playing at Florida Atlantic University.
“I thought Mav had good command of the offense. We made some big plays downfield,” seventh-year WKU head coach Tyson Helton said afterward. “… When we got momentum, we capitalized on it. When we were down, somebody pulled the other ones along and got us back in it. We made big plays when we had to make big plays.
“All of those are good signs.”
AND THE HILLTOPPERS HAVE WON
THREE OF THEIR LAST FOUR OPENING GAMES.
AND SENIOR WIDEOUT MATTHEW HENRY.
SCORES IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
The lopsided victory took on added significance in that it was the Hilltoppers’ opener in Conference USA play, too. They won’t face another conference opponent until they travel to Springfield, Missouri, to take on C-USA newcomer Missouri State on September 27.
The Tops allowed themselves to briefly bask in the moment before turning their attention to Saturday night’s home game against North Alabama, an FCS school with a winning tradition. WKU’s defense stopped Sam Houston State, which also recently made the transition to FBS football, on 12 of 14 third-down opportunities.
Consequently, the Hilltoppers controlled the ball for nearly 33 minutes of the game, dictating the tempo and after awhile, virtually everything else.
“This is a good step, from what you’re going to see from the Hilltoppers,” first-year WKU defensive back Jalen Lewis said. “Don’t change the channel … Y’all gonna see.”
AND JALEN LEWIS WERE MAKING THEIR WKU DEBUTS.
SHORT-LIVED, AS WKU’s MAVERICK McIVOR
QUICKLY TOOK THE TOPS DOWNFIELD …
FROM ONE YARD OUT IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
Sam Houston’s Hunter Watson passed for 209 yards and burned the WKU defense with a 55-yard scoring dash in the second quarter, but the Hilltoppers quickly recovered. McIvor took the Tops’ offense 75 yards in 13 plays to move back in front, 14-10, with 7:06 left in the first half.
McIvor closed the door on the Bearkats himself, on a 4-yard touchdown run with 10:17 left in the game.
In fact, there were four lead changes — the Bearkats briefly led, 24-20, early in the third quarter — before McIvor and the WKU offense took control of the game with two 87-yard touchdown drives. K.D. Hutchinson scored on a 9-yard TD reception to lift the Hilltoppers to a 27-24 lead, and less than four minutes later, Marvin Parrish, a freshman running back from Valdosta, Georgia, caught McIvor’s pass for a 22-yard scoring strike.
“It was a good night, to show what we can do,” McIvor said. “It felt really good, to be honest with you.”
ON A 2-YARD RUN IN THE THIRD QUARTER …
HIS TEAM IN FRONT ON A ‘SCOOP AND SCORE’ …
AT BAY FOR THE REST OF THE GAME …
IN THE GAME’s FINAL TWO MINUTES.
Equally critical to the Hilltoppers’ solid performance was the retooled WKU defense, under the direction of co-defensive coordinators Da’Von Brown and Davis Merritt. Former WKU defensive coordinator Tyson Summers returned to Colorado State after the Hilltoppers’ 8-6 finish last season.
“The front four really did a nice job,” Helton said. “When they wanted to throw, we got after them with pressure … We rushed the passer really well.”
WKU senior wideout Matthew Henry, making the fourth stop of his college career, led the Tops with seven receptions for a game-high 148 yards and the game’s first touchdown. The Hilltoppers’ Maverick McIvor found Henry on a fade route for an 18-yard TD pass on WKU’s second offensive series of the night.
“We talked about starting fast,” Helton said. “When we fell behind, nobody blinked. That was good to see.”
ON A 49-YARD FIELD GOAL WITH
4:57 LEFT IN THE FIRST HALF …
MOMENTS BEFORE HALFTIME.
A 71-YARD PUNT IN THE THIRD QUARTER.
SCORES ON A 22-YARD RECEPTION.
It was a banner night for WKU’s special-teams units, too.
Senior transfer placekicker John Cannon was true on field-goal attempts of 49 and 43 yards. Junior WKU punter Cole Maynard, one of the squad’s few returning starters, delivered a 71-yard punt in the third quarter while averaging 50 yards per kick. And transfer placekicker Jack Cassidy, a junior from Northern Ireland playing in his first football game of ANY KIND, put all eight of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.
“I thought we had a really good team win,” WKU coach Tyson Helton said.
WKU has more than 60 first-year players, the norm these days with the NCAA’s Transfer Portal, but the fast start against a Conference USA opponent gives the Hilltoppers a chance to build some early momentum. They’ll play three of their next four C-USA games on the road, including a mid-week game against conference newcomer Delaware on November 3.
“You’re only as good as your last game,” Helton said. “It’s good to be 1-0 in the conference.”
In the Tops’ case, that last game was pretty impressive.
THE SCORING ON A 4-YARD TD RUN.
TO NORTH ALABAMA ON SATURDAY NIGHT …
TO SIT THIS ONE OUT, TOO.